This invention relates in general to ringing generator testing arrangements and more particularly to an arrangement for determining the presence and frequency of ringing generator in a digital telephone network.
Line ringing tests verify the performance of line circuits, ringing control circuitry as well as the performance of the telephone networks ringing plant.
Typically these tests are performed by accessing the line circuits under test and configuring the line circuits accessed for ringing. A ringing generator signal is then applied to the line, sensed and measured under closed loop conditions verifying the presence of ringing signal as well as its frequency.
In digital telephone networks these testing procedures function under program control of a central control complex. The central control complex via an administrative input/output interface can configure the line circuits to be tested and apply the ringing generator signal.
In the past the performance of the ringing circuitry and ringing plant were measured by analog devices monitored by telephone network personnel. In program controlled testing systems however, it becomes advantageous to read the results of such tests directly into the central control complex. The program thus would interpret and determine the results of the test. In order to accomplish this end, a means of converting the analog frequency and waveform voltages of the ringing generator into a digital value is normally required in order to input these values into the central control complex.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an arrangement under program control for verifying the presence and frequency of ringing generator in line circuits under test and to sense and report the results of these tests to a central control complex.